Tiny Michigan Town Hopes to Stop Data Center with Ballot Initiative - Bridge Michigan

Tiny Michigan town hopes to stop data center with ballot initiative - Bridge Michigan

Officials in Augusta Township, near Ann Arbor, see millions of dollars in tax revenue, but more than 950 residents who signed ballot petitions fear endless noise, pollution and higher electric rates.

A Michigan town hopes to stop a data center with a 2026 ballot initiative

Early this year, Augusta Charter Township resident Travis Matts had seen a few headlines about the problems data centers caused in towns across the country. He thought the impacts on water, air and utility bills sounded awful, but it also seemed like a far-away issue. Until it suddenly hit home in May.  That is when Matts learned, through his group of volunteers that cleans up area litter, that a data center was proposed for an 822-acre property…